1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cyclone dust collector of a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a cyclone dust collector for collecting dust and dirt entrained in an air stream (hereinafter, referred to as ‘dust’) by centrifugally separating the same several times in successive, sequential steps.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, which is a partially enlarged vertical section of a cyclone dust collector of a conventional vacuum cleaner, the general conventional cyclone dust collector comprises a cyclone body 110 and a filter 130 mounted in the cyclone body 110. In a device receiving unit 10 of a cleaner body 3 of FIG. 2, the cyclone dust collector 100 is mounted. Referring to FIG. 2, the following elements are disposed at the rear side of the device receiving unit 10: an air suction connection port 13 (shown in phantom) for drawing in air including entrained dust; and an air discharge connection port 14 for discharging clean air which is filtered in the cyclone dust collector 100, of FIG. 1, which is disposed within a receptacle 40 (FIG. 2) that can be removably inserted into the vacuum cleaner main body 3.
The cyclone body 110 comprises an air suction port 113 (shown in phantom) and an air discharge port 115, and also a dust receptacle 120 connected to a lower part of the cyclone body 110. The air suction port 113 is formed in a sidewall of the cyclone body 110 so as to introduce an air stream in a tangential direction, and is connected to the suction connection port 13 of the main body 3 of FIG. 2. The air flowing in through the suction connection port 13 is discharged into the cyclone body 110 through the air suction port 113, and generates a rotating or cyclonic air current. At this time, the dust in the air is separated by the centrifugal force of the rotating air and is collected in the dust receptacle 120. Preferably, the dust receptacle 120 is removably connected to the cyclone body 110.
The air discharge port 115 is disposed in a center portion of the upper part of the cyclone body 110, and is connected to the discharge connection port 14 (FIG. 2) of the cleaner main body 3. Accordingly, the air, from which the dust has been centrifugally separated in the cyclone body 110, is discharged through the discharge connection port 14.
Meanwhile, a filter 130 (FIG. 1) is disposed in the dust receptacle 120 and is in fluid communication with an opening of the air discharge port 115. The filter 130 filters fine dust particles entrained in the air after it has been centrifuged in the cyclone body 110. After the dust is removed through the filter 130, the clean air is discharged externally through the discharge connection port 14. Further, the filter 130 prevents a reverse current flow of the discharged air.
However, in the cyclone dust collector 100 of most conventional vacuum cleaners, dust, which is centrifugally separated and collected in the dust receptacle, is entrained and flows together with the rising air current, thereby generating noise when colliding with the filter 130. Further, the floating dust adheres to the surface of the filter 130, thereby impeding smooth flow of the air through the filtration section of the vacuum cleaner. In addition, a single filter 130 of the conventional cyclone dust collector cannot filter satisfactorily when there is a lot of dust in the drawn in air. Therefore, the life span of each filter is significantly reduced, causing the concomitant inconvenience of requiring frequent replacement of filters.